Sunday, July 31, 2011

Gettin' Meaty With It

I'm pretty sure I wasn't crazy about meatloaf as a kid. I don't recall my mom making it that often, and when she did, I don't remember being very excited about it. But vegan meatloaf is one of my favorite meals. Maybe because it's totally meat-free. And possibly because I've grown to love ketchup even though I didn't love it growing up.

I've tried several veggie loafs and lentil loafs and other such hippie alternatives. And every single recipe is a little different. The July recipe in Sarah Kramer's 2011 Go Vegan wall calendar is no exception. The loaf is named Emily's Mock "Meat" Loaf in honor of Emily the Cow, who escaped a slaughterhouse and now lives in a rescue facility:

As you can see, the texture is pretty creamy. Most mock loafs have a firmer texture, but the addition of a cup of melty Daiya vegan cheese makes this loaf melt in your mouth. That cheese is combined with veggie burger crumbles (I used Boca), walnuts, carrots, celery, onion, and plenty of herbs and spices. Then it's all topped with ketchup. I'd have never thought to add cheese to a meatloaf, but the addition was genius. You can also find the recipe here and in La Dolce Vegan.

It'd be un-American to serve meatloaf without a side of mashed taters and gravy. Plus, I roasted some fresh okra from the Memphis Farmers Market:

Click here for my easy roasted okra recipe. As for the "beef" gravy, I combined 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour with 2 cups of water, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce. This stuff is totally vegan, and according to Wikipedia, folks have been using it to brown their gravy since 1879!

12 comments:

This is funny because I hated meatloaf growing up! (though I'll never know if a) I actually hated it, b) I just hated my mother's meatloaf or c) always selected the smallest, hard, end piece was a bad decision. Regardless, once going vegan I was obsessed about a good, vegan "loaf" Your plate of food looks like the vegan version of what I always wanted! LOL I sort of swooning over the okra and potatoes and gravy....